Why You Should Root For The Patriots

The stage was set for potentially one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time: if the Minnesota Vikings would have beaten the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship, they would have become the first team to ever have home-field advantage in the Super Bowl. If that wasn’t enough to cheer for them, beating Tom Brady and the New England Patriots would have made for an epic upset victory in front of a home crowd. Instead, we get to watch the Nick Foles show. Don’t get me wrong, Foles has been playing great since Carson Wentz went down late in the season, but do we really want to see him hoist the Lombardi trophy? The Eagles have a bright future, and will surely have another shot at the title sometime soon when Wentz is healthy. That is why on February 4th, we should all swallow our pride, and cheer on Tom Brady and the Patriots.

Like clockwork, the Patriots are in the Super Bowl yet again. Since the arrival of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in 2000, the Patriots have made it all the way eight times, which means they’re pretty much there every other year. Although many like to point to past controversies like Spygate or Deflategate tainting the team’s success, it’s without a doubt that we are witnessing one of the greatest sports teams of all time. The pure dominance of the Patriots over the last two decades has been amazing to watch, and that is why we should root for them next Sunday.

Wine is supposed to get better with age. Football players are not meant to get better with age. Tom Brady has defied all odds and has somehow gotten better over the years, becoming the oldest quarterback to start a Super Bowl at the crisp age of 40. Despite being down by 10 late in the game without his top weapons Gronkowski and Edelman against Jacksonville’s elite defence last week, there was little doubt that Brady wouldn’t somehow engineer a win. That’s just what we’ve come to expect from Brady. Don’t count the man out at any point in a game.

People can’t seem to enjoy greatness anymore. Lebron James, arguably one of the best basketball players of all time, receives more hate than anyone in the league. Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, is constantly belittled and scrutinized in comparison to Lionel Messi. Then there’s the Patriots, the most hated team in the NFL. The Patriots keep on winning, and people keep on pointing to excuses of cheating to validate their hatred for the team. People just love to hate on greatness, rather than to sit back and enjoy the show.

Someday soon the Belichick-Brady era will come to an end. Someday soon the Patriots will not be the powerhouse that they’ve been for the last 20 years. Until that day comes, there’s no point in trying to fight it. There’s no point in believing in false hope and rooting for the Eagles only to be disappointed when Brady methodically picks apart their defence en route to yet another Super Bowl win. Brady, with his five Super Bowl wins and counting is the undisputed G.O.A.T quarterback, and he’s not even done yet. Just for one day out of 365, cheer for greatness. Cheer for the Patriots.